Many different chemical, biochemical, and other reactions are sensitive to temperature variations. Examples of thermal processes in the area of genetic amplification include, but are not limited to, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), Sanger sequencing, etc. The reactions may be enhanced or inhibited based on the temperatures of the materials involved. Although it may be possible to process samples individually and obtain accurate sample-to-sample results, individual processing can be time-consuming and expensive.
A variety of sample processing devices have been developed to assist in the reactions described above. A problem common to many of such devices is that it is desirable to seal the chambers or wells in which the reactions occur to prevent, e.g., contamination of the reaction before, during, and after it is completed.
Yet another problem that may be experienced in many of these approaches is that the volume of sample material may be limited and/or the cost of the reagents to be used in connection with the sample materials may also be limited and/or expensive. As a result, there is a desire to use small volumes of sample materials and associated reagents. When using small volumes of these materials, however, additional problems related to the loss of sample material and/or reagent volume, etc., may be experienced as the sample materials are transferred between devices.
One such problem may be the loss of fluid sample materials that are forced back into the distribution channels used to deliver the sample materials to the process chambers when a device is inserted into the process chamber. The sample materials forced back into the distribution channels may not be available for further processing, thereby decreasing the amount of available sample materials.